Polly Stephenson > Ashtons Legal > Suffolk, England > Lawyer Profile
Ashtons Legal Offices
Portman House
120 Princes Street
IPSWICH
IP1 1RS
England
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Polly Stephenson
Work Department
Private Wealth Disputes
Position
Partner
Career
Polly has advised executors/trustees, claimants and defendants in claims relating to smaller estates to those in excess of £6million.
She recognises the client’s need for flexibility in terms of funding and the management of such claims, recommending alternative forms of funding where appropriate.
Prominent cases include:
- Hudson v Hathway (representing Hathway) – High Court (Queen’s Bench Division)
- Hewson v Wells & Ors (representing Hewson) – Royal Courts of Justice
- Smith v Bowser & Anor (representing Smith) – Court of Appeal
Currently, Polly is advising an executor in respect of her claim against a carer who stole almost £350,000 from the deceased prior to death in an estate of over £1million. She is advising in a similar matter in respect of a claim against the deceased’s attorney, who used the deceased’s money for his owns purposes. Polly is advising in respect of a claim for the removal of executors, and in several claims for devastavit. She is also advising in respect of several 1975 Act claims, handling each with sensitivity and determination to secure the best achievable result for the client.
Given her considerable experience, Polly has recently been admitted as a member of ACTAPS (Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Solicitors).
Polly was the lawyer acting on behalf of the family in this case – ‘We placed our trust in a carer – but he stole more than £100,000‘.
Languages
English
Memberships
Member of STEP and of ACTAPS
Education
University of Liverpool English and History BA (Hons) 1994
STEP Advanced Certificate in Trust Disputes – Distinction
Lawyer Rankings
East Anglia > Private client > Contentious trusts and probate
(Leading individuals)The contentious trusts and probate group at Ashtons Legal is noted as being ‘able to cut through the knotty issues and work collaboratively to reach desirable end goals‘. Partner and ACTAPS member Polly Stephenson and senior associate Katie Emerson, both based in Ipswich, combine ‘big legal brains with commercial pragmatism and huge amounts of emotional sensitivity‘. Stephenson recently defended a client individual in a £250,000 claim brought by her former partner. Litigation partner Annabel Mayer in Bury St Edmunds and ‘responsive, efficient and practical‘ Ipswich-based legal executive Joanna Baker are also highly recommended.
Lawyer Rankings
- Contentious trusts and probate East Anglia > Private client
- Leading individuals East Anglia > Private client > Contentious trusts and probate
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Private client > Agriculture and estates
- Private client > Contentious trusts and probate
- Corporate and commercial > Corporate and commercial: elsewhere in East Anglia
- Private client > Personal tax, trusts and probate: Norwich
- Insurance > Personal injury and clinical negligence: claimant
- Private client > Personal tax, trusts and probate: elsewhere in East Anglia
Firm Rankings
- Finance > Banking and finance
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: Cambridge
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: Norwich
- Real estate > Commercial property: Cambridge
- Real estate > Commercial property: elsewhere in East Anglia
- Real estate > Commercial property: Norwich
- Corporate and commercial > Corporate and commercial: Norwich
- Employment > Employment
- Private client > Family
- Finance > Insolvency and corporate recovery
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > IT and telecoms
- Private client > Personal tax, trusts and probate: Cambridge
- Private client > Personal tax, trusts and probate: Norwich
- Real estate > Planning and environment
- Real estate > Property litigation
- Transport > Transport and shipping
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: elsewhere in East Anglia